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April 2007

Page Layout Development A Primer for Desktop Publishers

egular readers of Printips know that we are proud to be part of a centuries- old industry that has contributed Graphics Rsignificantly to the development of human enterprise. as a profession dates back Printing to the mid-1400s when invented movable , a breakthrough Mailing of the day. When combined with Under One Roof a , changed forever both the content and quantity of what could be TechneGraphics, Inc. printed. Park 50 TechneCenter 2002 Ford Circle Gutenberg’s invention gave rise to Milford, OH 45150 – the art of designing type and also of arranging (513) 248-2121 or setting type. Until the invention of digital type, Fax (513) 248-5141 typography required either the manufacturing of individual letters in character sets called or 1980 IBM introduced its with Web site: a machine to transform molten into lines of an operating system (a program that handled the www.techgra.com type. In both cases, type had a physical form and communications between other software and the could not be easily used outside of printing and File Transfer site: hardware) from Microsoft. Finally, in 1984 Apple www.tgidirect.net businesses. introduced the Macintosh, the first personal computer with a graphical user interface (GUI). FTP site: More than 500 years after Gutenberg’s ftp.techgra.com contribution, the confluence of three new The development of software and digital developments – the personal computer, Email: type [email protected] layout software, and digital type – moved Because the original Macintosh computer had typography to the desktop, making it accessible almost no software, it was not widely used for outside of the printing and publishing industry. business applications. That changed in 1985 with the release of the Apple LaserWriter . The Would you like The development of personal computers LaserWriter used a new page description language The first step in developing a computer small more tips? developed by John Warnock, co-founder of Adobe enough to fit on a desktop was to change the Systems, called that printed on Try our weekly email source of signals that set the binary digits–from a true rendering of the on the computer newsletter – Tuesday vacuum tubes to transistors to a microprocessor screen. Tips. To be added to holding millions of transistors. In 1977 Apple the mailing list, send a Computer, owned by Steve Jobs and Steve PostScript drew character (or shapes) as request to: Wozniak, introduced the Apple II, an assembled art that could be rendered at any resolution, thus [email protected] microcomputer that could be used by anyone. In producing various sizes. PostScript Development (continued) used hints – additional information that identifies must develop skills, including the features of each that are important , effective use of type, and how to for correct raster image processing – to create make readable. That is one of the proportional characters in every point size. reasons we send you Printips each month and keep the topics about printing. Desktop publishing – a term attributed to Paul Brainerd, the founder of Aldus Corporation – Good practices in desktop publishing “...can create began in 1985 when Aldus released its PageMaker design page layouts with page layout software for the Apple LaserWriter. To help you develop your skills as a desktop What PageMaker created on the computer screen text, graphics, publisher, we offer these five principles of good was identical to what printed on the LaserWriter design: photographs, and line in 300 dpi and was termed WYSIWYG (What You art.” See Is What You Get). Principal 1: Good design has a purpose. Before you begin to design, think about what the The LaserWriter came with 13 fonts – four is to accomplish. Think about the audience, the variations of Times, , Courier, and one image you want to portray, and what reaction you variation of Symbol. The LaserWriter Plus added want to invoke. This will guide all your selections 22 more fonts, for a total of 35 (Avant Garde, – the , the color palette, the layout itself. Bookman, New Century Schoolbook, Palatino, Helvetica Narrow, Zapf Chancery Medium, and Principal 2: Good design makes things seem simple. Zapf ). These fonts remain among the A good design can make a difficult concept most commonly-used fonts today. understandable by guiding the audience through the presentation. Well chosen stock photographs, After PageMaker, other software quickly followed charts, illustrations, or other graphic elements – Adobe Illustrator that worked with PostScript to improve audience comprehension. “It also means that produce vector graphics, and Adobe Photoshop to manipulate digital photographs. Principal 3: Good design holds the reader’s attention. business users must Engage the reader immediately with an eye- develop desktop Desktop publishing today catching , graphic image, photograph, publishing skills...” Although desktop publishing began as a tool white space, or unusual layout. Then guide the for home computers, it has spread throughout reader through the important points so nothing printing and publishing. Now users at all levels, important is missed. from amateur to professional, can create page Principal 4: Good design has an underlying logic. layouts with text, graphics, photographs, and line The audience will see not only the text, graphics, art. Besides PageMaker, Adobe offers InDesign; and photographs on the page; they will react to there is also Quark XPress, MS Publisher, and the underlying organizational structure of the other programs for page layout. In addition, document. Be sure you have one, and be sure it is desktop publishing has spread beyond printing consistent. and publishing into other industries that require manipulation of . Principal 5: Good design doesn’t call attention to itself. One measure of a good design is when the For graphic arts professionals such as art reader gets the intended message and enjoys the directors, graphic designers, prepress technicians, experience. developers, and marketing and public relations executives, desktop publishing skills have And in become a necessary part of their jobs. We hope you have enjoyed this brief history of For business users, desktop publishing improves typography and desktop publishing. If you would the look of business documents and allows for like more information on the topic, please contact printing of small quantities of documents on a us at 513-248-2121. desktop printer. It also means that business users Make Your Type More Effective ost readers can tell good are set in fonts for this reason. typography from bad, even if they The best point size for long text passages is IIDEA can’t articulate why. Here are III usually between 9 and 12 points. The x-height Msome ideas to help you use typography well. CORNER determines the best size for a particular . White space is a design element that can be used Lower case letters are more legible than all capital “A large amount to guide the reader to an important message. letters. Words set in take about 15% A large amount of white space can draw the of white space can longer to process than those set in lower case reader in – imagine a full page display ad in a draw the reader with caps. Some script faces become , with just a few small words in the in...” completely illegible when set in all caps. middle of the ad. All that white space will surely draw attention. Reverse type should be at least 12 points for best legibility. Reverse type is 15% more difficult to Serif fonts are the best choice for extended read. , as they are slightly easier to read. Most

The illustration below shows the anatomy of type What is the characters. Individual fonts Q. Adiffer in their x-height,. presence or absence of & serifs, length of ascenders and , and anatomy of a type glyph? questions and answers shape of the stress and . QA

“Individual fonts differ in their x-height...” 513-248-2121 PRSRT STD Fax 513-248-5141 US Postage PAID 2002 Ford Circle www.techgra.com Permit #271 Milford, OH 45150 [email protected] Milford, OH Page Layout Development

A Primer for Desktop Publishers

Please Route to the Printing Buyer Important Type Tips Type Important – andusuallytwo willbeenough. selection to nomore thanthree Font selection: H ending quotation marks. You will characters for beginning and In typography, there are special correctly.Use quotation marks point size. boldface, oradifferentuse italics, . Indesktop publishing, one ofthefew ways to create days, underlining was Avoid underlining. create aperiod. extra spaceafter typewriter, sothere isnoneedto spacing, not monospacinglike a publishing usesproportional aperiod.Desktop space after are usingatypewriter, don’tdouble periods. Spacing after oftheemphasis. purpose your reader anddestroy the Overuse ofemphasis willconfuse Emphasis: Emphasize judiciously.

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in your desktop publishingprogram. them onthespecialcharacter map have specialcharacters. You canfind registered trademark, appropriate: when Use specialcharacters substitute thequotation characters. begin andendquotations, learnto habit ofusinginch orfoot marks to curled, not straight. Ifyou are inthe recognize thembecausethey are

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